Impact of Rezoning Schools on the Disadvantaged

According to a recent study that I read, while merging schools solves capacity issues and increased diversity, the redistricting or redrawing school boundaries increased racial and socioeconomic segregation in schools with large concentrations of disadvantaged students. In addition many minority and low-income students were zoned out of diverse, academically enriched feeder schools into poorer performing, less-diverse schools.

Many disadvantaged parents felt that the rezoning placed an undue burden on them. Parents whose main source of transportation was either walking or the transit system indicated concern about their future ability to reach their child's school in the event of an emergency. One example cited was of one parent whose commute went from a 7- minute walk to a 45- minute transit ride. Many parents felt the increased commute would also prevent them from being actively involved in school activities, or from enrolling their children in after-school activities.